Tumaco

Port on the Pacific coast in southern Colombia, 288 km/179 mi southwest of Buenaventura; population (1996) 71,000. Tumaco handles agricultural produce ferried from the interior by boats on the River Patia, whose mouth is 40 km/25 mi to the north. It is also the terminal of one of the main pipelines running from the Ecuadorean oil-producing region of Napo. Gold, mined 96 km/60 mi inland at El Diviso, is brought here by rail for export.

Tumaco was rebuilt following a major fire in 1947. Its site occupies three of several small islands that lie in the bay (Rado de Tumaco), and a number of its houses are built on stilts. The climate is extremely hot and humid, and the town experiences one of the heaviest annual rainfalls in the world (7,500 mm). Tumaco has high unemployment, poor living conditions, and a poor infrastructure.